“I have been going to my neighbors, and I have been passing out information and been putting up signs,” said Faye Holt, 64, who owns 49 acres. “I’m active not just for me but for my son and grandchildren.”

The plot thickens

Holt, Brown and other landowners say Randolph County officials deceived them about the site, especially by giving vague information in meetings with owners.

“Randolph County has not been truthful. ... It’s like they want to get land by hook or crook,” Holt said.

More than 40 members of the group mobilized at a meeting two weeks ago.

For more than three hours, they reviewed dozens of public and private documents prepared by Randolph and Guilford county economic developers.

The roughly 50 documents, obtained earlier by the News & Record, show that economic developers have been studying their land since mid-2011, preparing 28 maps covering topography, wetlands, utilities and other aspects.

The documents also show that officials have met with consultants and received letters from utilities expressing support.

Page 2 of 2 - Greensboro Mayor Robbie Perkins wrote one of those letters. He said the city would be “willing to offer” an estimated $19.5 million for water and sewer service to serve the site.

In January, the N.C. Department of Commerce gave $1.7 million to Randolph County to begin acquiring land — the first public evidence of the project.

“My golly, is this a matter of national security? I don’t think so,” said Lt. Col. Roger “Charlie” Brown of the U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard.

Lt. Col. Brown — Steve Brown’s brother — wants to come home to live near the family land when he retires.

“I love what our nation stands for,” he said.

But this project bothers him.

“Where’s democracy if you’ve got just a few running the masses,” he said. “Our elected officials need to pay a little bit more attention.”

Tell ’em: ‘no’

Wayne Wicker just wants to be left alone.

A farmer by trade, he has lived on the same land for 49 of his 69 years.

He worked in a tile plant for 12 years, but he has mostly been a farmer.

Wicker loves being outside on his 15 acres near the site’s edge on U.S. 421.

Wicker keeps bees and cultivates soil in a garden that he says is the best and blackest he’s ever seen.

“I wouldn’t want to start over at 70 years old — that’s basically what you’re going to do,” he said. “You’ve got fruit trees you’ve planted and this and that — that takes time.”

No amount of money can replace his land — the last piece his family has owned for 100 years, where he was born, grew up and hopes to die.

But he said he believes he can’t fight the big forces bearing down on him.